LETTER: President Obama's compassion isn't a vice

Our nation in theory is a nation based on a government of, for and by the people. I wish it were so.

We the people have allowed plutocrats to gain control of both major parties. "Elections that are for sale are not free." The wealthy have always sought government largesse and they usually get what they want in one form or another. President Obama like all politicians is under pressure from plutocrats.

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Sadly, the policies of the Obama administration don't reflect much change from the policies of the Reagan, Clinton and Bush administrations from my perspective.

Corporate welfare, deregulation, the marginalization of organized labor, regressive taxation, a for-profit system of health insurance, and the dismantling of New Deal social programs are the order of the day.

Untimely tax cuts, unfunded and underfunded military involvements and a big bank bailout with no legal accountability have exacerbated the national debt putting our government in financial distress.

Economically, technological advances in production techniques and CEO's moving manufacturing offshore to reduce labor costs have all but eliminated social mobility for many American workers.

The "middle class" is diminishing rapidly.

The concentration of wealth by a minority of Americans is problematic. How this problem gets addressed is what matters most in this election.

Who engineers the solution to wealth disparity matters more.

When the president's critics label him a socialist for taking steps to mitigate the human suffering caused by corporate greed and graft they are unfairly attacking him. The president has authorized increases in some social safety net programs like unemployment insurance and Food Stamps. These actions are necessary government responses to people in need. The president's motive for taking these actions is to provide essentials for people who are hurting, not to create a socialist state.

To understand the depth to which people in our society have fallen, I invite anyone to visit the food pantries in the City of Oneida and hear what the directors of the pantries have to say about the increased need in the area since the beginning of the "Great Recession."

An interesting phenomenon that has emerged during this election is the exaltation of Ayn Rand by some conservatives. Rand's disdain for the disenfranchised classes of society is legendary.

Anyone who is familiar with Rand's philosophy of Objectivism knows that she considered those who believed in Jesus' compassion for the poor to be weak minded individuals. Altruism is a vice and selfishness a virtue according to her way of thinking.

The unemployed and the poor didn't cause the mess we're in as a nation. These Americans are victims of a failed economic system.

I support President Obama for re-election because he, unlike those who oppose him, hasn't forsaken the least fortunate among us.

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